#utukku

(art by ThemeFinland on DeviantArt)

When it comes to the faithful, there are those whose belief is unshakable, who stand against aversity with their deity by their side through thick and thin, and inspire others with their resolute attitude.

And today we focus on an example of that with a lovely little pun of an archetype, the Foundation of Faith!

Most common among deities of earth and stone, these priests are able to draw upon the strength of the earth itself, becoming nearly unmovable and gaining vitality from the act.

Despite the association, it is possible for clerics of other deities to gain such power. Though, obviously worshippers of deities of the air might find it difficult to make use of such abilities.

There’s a certain element of the Greek myth of Antaeus, a giant whose was empowered while in contact with the earth, though it should be noted that said giant was slain by Heracles when he lifted him off the ground and squeezed the life from him. Hopefully your cleric avoids clever wrestlers.

As we will soon see, these clerics can, however, stand resolute against most any foe as long as stone is under their feet.

As long as they are in contact with the earth, their bodies and their hearts are unassailable. Indeed, they become very hard to forcibly move or intimidate.

Their focus is also impressive, as they can center themselves to concentrate upon a spell even under duress.

However, their truth strength shows when they stand upon worked or unworked stone and take a moment to draw upon it’s energies. When they do so, they slowly heal their wounds over time. Alternatively, they can bless allies on similar terrain with a lesser version of this healing as well.

A simple archetype, but one that trades the cleric’s ubiquitous channel energy for more gradual healing which can be done as a swift action. With their focus on constitution and healing over time, these clerics are definitely meant for the front lines, so a tanky combat built is a natural pick for them.

While using this archetype with any sort of earth-themed deity is a natural choice, It’s even more interesting to find justification for using this archetype with other deities? Perhaps every deity in your setting had a hand in creating the “world”, or perhaps more resolute deities draw parallels between earth and steadfastness, and so on.

Suspecting that something isn’t right with the new cult that promises “oneness with the cosmos”, Onnark the Resolute does some investigating, discovering that this supposedly peaceful group worships the tainted promises of utukku qlippoth, nightmarish outsiders and rival to demonkind that seek to bypass evil souls becoming demons by merging them with the Abyss directly. The stalwart cleric makes ready to destroy the cult’s leaders and fiendish master, but he could use help, for the most immovable rocks are shored up with good foundation, after all.

Seeking stability but being called by the teachings of the River Goddess, Folva the half-elf chooses the path of the River Stone, a branch of the faith that act like large rocks in a stream, their presence creating relatively still eddies in their wake, just as the clerics themselves provide safe places for the traveling majority of the faithful and other river travelers to rest their head at waystations, river towns, and the like. It is a humble life, but a good one, and their divine power provides protection to those in need.

Did Vampires Exist in Ancient Mesopotamia?

The fear of the undead and ancient superstitions regarding the seemingly magical property of blood can be found in most cultures around the world. Early misconceptions over human body decomposition gave birth to the modern-day vampire, a creature often portrayed as an alluring “Other,” a rebel who embodies repressed sexual urges and who pushes back against conformity. In ancient cultures,…

A krogan scouting team has gone missing while investigating rumors of activity at the rachni relay.

Utukku

“Utukku” © TSR Inc, by Roger Raupp.

[The last monster I’m covering from the original Creature Catalogue, this is written by Roger Moore, not Ed Greenwood. Moore’s preferred design space was to make statistics for monsters from myth and folklore, which I respect. The udug/utukku is a Mesopotamian demon of darkness (different names for different cultures). I went with udug as a name because Pathfinder already has an utukku. Images of the udug/utukku haven’t survived into the modern day, if they ever existed, but I feel like this design captures the Sumerian feel better than the Paizo version. A scaled lion-man feels more like a genuine folkloric creature than Wilbur Whateley crossed with a sea anemone.

The original Dragon Magazine utukku was a straightforward fiend, native to Tartarus. But they hunted other fiends and had a given lifespan, which lead me to make them a monstrous humanoid instead. If you want to make them a full on outsider, mechanically the main difference would be more class skills. The original stat block was mostly a pile of spell-like abilities and immunities and not much else, as is common for fiends of this era. I made its fear SLA a signature ability, and gave it something to do with its quills. Its umbral valor ability is inspired by the Sumerian version being a demon of darkness specifically.

Also, is it just me, or does this art give of Grinch vibes? I think it’s the crossed arms and the pot belly. He could be the lovechild of the Grinch and Tony the Tiger]

Udug CR 12 CE Monstrous Humanoid This creature resembles a brick-red, scaled humanoid with the head of a lion and tusks jutting from its lower jaw. Its mane is a mass of striped, porcupine-like quills, and its face bears a cruel expression.

The udugs are often mistaken for fiends, but they are creatures of flesh and blood as much as they are darkness and pain. They are descended from immigrants from the Material Plane, but have made the Abyss their home. There, udugs carve out territories from which to lash out at fiends and mortals alike. Most udugs go out of their way to kill and eat demons, qlippoths and other fiends weaker than they, believing that doing so will secure them a more powerful form when their own souls become demons in death.

The roar of an udug is infused with supernatural fear. An udug will usually start combat with a roar in order to force enemies to flee, and then attack whoever is left on the battlefield. Udugs prefer to fight from darkness, and often swathe their forms in deeper darkness spells. In melee they are straightforward, but soften up enemies beforehand with a few lightning bolts or by making them fight each other. Udugs flee from superior forces, but are cocky and overconfident when fighting humanoid enemies.

An udug can live for thousands of years, inflicting suffering all through that time. They prefer to lair in the Abyss, but travel occasionally to the Material Plane in search of riches. Udugs covet magic weapons, but hardly ever use them, preferring instead to fight with teeth and claws. Udugs dislike being in positions of either leadership or authority, and do not get along well with others of their own kind. Presumably, as living things, they must mate and reproduce in some fashion, but the specifics are yet unknown.

“The utukku-demons stem from the early, embryonic cosmos. Their ancestor are variously named, but most often they are spawn (rihûtu) of Heaven and Earth, who on principle can have formed a productive pair only before their separation by Enlil; elsewhere the demons are related to Enki and Ninki, to other primeval pairs, to the Dukug 'Holy Mound', Enlil's birthplace, or to the Apsû, at the ends of the earth, a primeval locality. Once they are called 'children of the allû's', the primeval 'working gods', whose rebellion led to the creation of mankind. They 'have no god', no living divine parent to whom they were responsible, and who was responsible for them. A demon is not a god, but 'although not a god, his voice is loud, and his sheen (melammû) is lofty'. The godlike sheen notwithstanding, however, the demon's 'shadow is very dark, there is no light in his body'.

Like the primeval Monsters the demons did not have cults, but unlike the latter, who found employ in the service of the gods, they became cosmic outcasts, unintegrated vagabonds feeding ‘without mercy’ (la padû) on a civilization they could not be part of. The demons, not understanding, ‘keep wandering around from temple to temple, but since no flour has been scattered for them, nor any divine offering has been made for them, their behavior has become aggressive’. Because they do not keep court in temples like gods, they are unable to ‘heed prayer or supplication’. In the exorcistic rituals they are advised to satisfy themselves with the food and drink offered to ghosts, and then leave.

As to appearance the utukku-demons were beyond monstrosity. The text explains that they were neither male nor female, had no wives or children; that they were incorporeal non-beings, without mouth, limbs, face, hearing, or vision; that they were concealed, could not be seen even by daylight; that their names did not exist in Heaven and Earth, and that they were not counted in the universal census.

The demons, then, partook in the not-yet being of the not-yet, embryonic cosmos, and as incorporeal, featureless, placeless, and in general negatively defined carriers of pure otherness they were not, and could not be represented in any form.”